Still a Long Way to Go

After some deliberation I've decided not to recount a history of feminism to you here on the blog and instead jump into the subject I'd really like to talk about: why I think it's still important now. A lot of people know the bare bones history of the movement, and if you're interested in its roots, I suggest starting with Wikipedia (I know, I'm not supposed to say things like that, but this isn't a scholarly essay) and then heading to your library. There's far too much for me to get into here, and there's plenty of others who have told the story wonderfully.

What I want to talk about is what feminism is to me personally. I have a pretty simple definition -- equal rights for all regardless of gender. That's the basis anyway. But to me feminism encompasses a lot more than that. It's about equal rights for everybody, because why allow anybody to suffer inequality for any reason? For the sake of (some semblance of) brevity, I'll just focus on why the movement is still important to me and important for the world in the context of gender equality.

Though we have made huge strides for gender equality here in the U.S., things still aren't great for women in the world as a whole. In many countries women are still considered their husband's property or a commodity for fathers to trade. Abuse and rape go unpunished because these women have no rights, no voice, and no one to fight for them. Here it's easier for women to fight back against such treatment, but still difficult in a lot of cases. There's such a culture of fear and guilt that women suffer through when it comes to mistreatment.

As if the fear women feel when walking alone in a strange place or at night, or the guilt many feel after being mistreated -- as if they were asking for it -- wasn't enough, there are also impossible standards of perfection women are held to that men simply don't have to deal with. Women must be perfect mothers, have perfect homes, and most importantly, flawless looks in order to be considered good women.

And don't even get me started on the double standards women have to put up with when it comes to sexuality.

We still have a long way to go when it comes to gender equality, and until everything is just right, feminism will be there leading the way.